Who Hijacked Our Country

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Wall Street’s Prostitute of the Quarter: Richard Shelby

Senator Richard Shelby (R—Skank) has come up with yet another sleazy method for derailing the Wall Street Reform Act.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act was designed to prevent the banking industry from crashing the global economy again like they did in 2008.  Most Americans don’t want another financial meltdown; Republicans apparently do.

Congressional Republican prostitutes — acting on orders from their Wall Street owners — have repeated tried to sabotage any and all reform of the banking laws (or lack thereof) which led to the 2008 crash.  They tried frantically to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — which was part of the Wall Street Reform Act — from being created.  When that didn’t work, they vowed to filibuster ANY nominee to head this new agency, knowing that the agency couldn’t function fully without somebody in charge.

And now Wall Street’s favorite call girl, Richard Shelby, has introduced legislation to require a cost-benefit analysis of ALL new financial regulations.  If a financial regulation’s costs outweigh its benefits, it can NOT be implemented.

And who exactly would be doing this “analysis?”  According to a Reuters spokesman, “Quantifying costs and benefits objectively is notoriously difficult and the result tends to depend on who is doing the measuring.”

This phony “cost-benefit” analysis has been a favorite Republican gimmick since at least the early 1990s.  For some odd reason, they only worry about costs versus benefits when it’s a law they don’t want.  I don’t recall the War on Drugs ever being submitted to a cost-benefit analysis.  Or the Right’s constant crackdowns on abortion.  Or Dumbya’s invasion of Iraq…

Labels: , , , ,

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey! How about a Cost Benefit Analysis of the Bush Medicare Plan?


Erik

March 7, 2013 at 2:55 PM  
Blogger S.W. Anderson said...

A few years ago, during an impasse while trying to get some banking reforms with teeth passed, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in an obvious state of deep frustration and disgust, said, "The banks own this place." By "this place" Durbin meant the Senate.

Indeed they do.

Here, from OpenSecrets.org, are some pertinent factoids about Sen. Richard Shelby. They draw a perfect picture of a cynical, selfish and thoroughly sold-out pol elected and re-elected to the Senate since 1986 by the willing dupes who make up the majority of Alabama voters. They think Shelby is representing them. The numbers make clear who Shelby really represents, and why he's a millionaire.

Shelby's 2011 net worth: From $4,680,045 to $11,182,002. Rank: 26th in Senate.

2007-2012 his campaign committee raised $8,538,662 and spent $2,476,122. The committee's top-five contributors: Travelers Co.s (insurance), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (investment bank), Blackstone Group (law firm), Bank of New York Mellon and Radiance Technologies.

Top-five industries contributing to Shelby's campaign committee: 1, securities and investment; 2, insurance; 3, law firms; 4, real estate; and 5, finance/credit companies.

Large individual contributions totaling $3,237,811 made up 38 percent of campaign committee donations. PACs contributed $2,517,600, or 29 percent.

Shelby's leadership PAC raised an additional $3,907,688. Top five industries contributing to his leadership PAC: insurance, securities and investment, accountants, commercial banks and defense/aerospace.

March 7, 2013 at 10:58 PM  
Blogger Randal Graves said...

How about a Cost-Benefit Analysis of our stupid system.

March 8, 2013 at 6:38 AM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Erik: Yup, that's a perfect example of Republicans not being a bit concerned about costs and benefits.

SW: Thanks for the info about Shelby. I have OpenSecrets.org linked to my blog but I never remember to go there. It's an excellent site for keeping up on who owns whom.

Randal: That would be too scary.

March 8, 2013 at 2:18 PM  
Blogger S.W. Anderson said...

I should've mentioned, Shelby is ranking member (and former chairman) of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and also serves on the Appropriations Committee.

March 8, 2013 at 7:43 PM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

SW: Thanks for the additional information. All the more reason for the finance industry to shower him with gifts and favors.

March 9, 2013 at 2:01 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home